Category Archives: Vala

Participants need to get set for a time travelling experience they’ll never forget as the quirky Professor Martin and Associates and their techno-magical machine take them to eras and places as far apart as the golden age of Greek heroes and the early days of bushranging in Australia. Education has never been so much fun!

Features creative modalities spanning:

Dramatic Make Believe

Live-Action challenges and play (Including ‘Boffer’ weapon play)

Improvisational Character-play,

Storytelling

In Vala we take those creative modalities and use them to explore stories sourced from:

What a wonderful Summer Program, and how hard to believe it wasn’t even a fortnight ago.

The four-week program was full of excitement for Vala participants and facilitators alike, with countless characters played and stories told.

And so, once again, the Vala team are delighted to announce that submissions are OPEN for Aeondawn.

Aeondawn is Vala’s magazine, where we collect the creative work of students and staff to remember and celebrate the dramatic adventures we all had together.

And not just students and staff!

If your head is buzzing with the stories that you heard from your child, or you’re a Spark with a strong memory of an exciting interface, we’d be delighted to read and admire your submissions as well.

All you need to do for a chance to get your work published in our magazine is send it to our email, whether it is a short story, essay, comic strip, piece of art, map, or something so imaginative we can’t even anticipate it.

Next week is the first week of after school classes here at Aeoncademy and we always start the term with a week of Introductory Sessions. Instead of our usual division into classes of Sparks, Vala and Creative catalyst at 4pm, everyone will be joining in with group activities representing all the classes!

Time Bandits negotiate for The Map

Here is our line up for term 1 of 2018. Art classes are in the top row, followed by Vala’s drama classes and then the Sparks cyclical forays into both programs + World Cooking.

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Week One

Intro Sessions

Student free day

Intro sessions

All students start – Vala Games + Bird project.

Lego.

Intro sessions

Vala Games + Bird project –

Seed Planting

IntroSessions

Vala Games + Bird project –

Free time clay

Vala Games

Week Two

Cardboard City Pt1

Autumnal Prints 1

Under the Microscope 1

Pixies Tea Party 1

Giant Bubbles

READY PLAYER CHARACTER

READY PLAYER CHARACTER

READY PLAYER CHARACTER

READY PLAYER CHARACTER

Cornucopia

Carboard City

MINI PLAYER CHARACTER

World Cooking

Pixie Cup

Week Three

Cardboard City 2

Autumnal Prints 2

Under the Microscope 2

Pixies Tea Party 2

Cooking

Days of Narnia- The Lion, the Witch and the Wolves: The Waste and the Wild

Golden Age of Greek Heroes- the Odyssey: Cave of the Cyclops

Return to The Mountain (The Dwarf Trilogy)- Fragments of a Map: The Troll Woods

People of the Old Stone Age: Summer Heights

Cornucopia

DRAMATIC MAKE-BELIEVE Days of Narnia- ‘Friends in the Forest’

WC

Magnified Drawings

DRAMATIC MAKE-BELIEVE- People of the Old Stone Age- ‘Raiders at the Ford’

Week Four

Cardboard City 3

Autumnal Prints 3

Under the Microscope 3

Pixies Tea Party 3

Vala Games

Days of Narnia- The Lion, the Witch and the Wolves: The Waste and the Wild

Golden Age of Greek Heroes- the Odyssey: Cave of the Cyclops

Return to The Mountain (The Dwarf Trilogy)- Fragments of a Map: The Troll Woods

It is only two weeks then we’re all going back to school! Its hard to believe we’ve already had 10 days of amazing workshops across Vala, Creative Catalyst and Sparks. It’s a short week due to the Australia day long weekend but we intend to pack a lot into the next four days. Today is a full art class with Misty Mountain Oil Paintings, followed by the ceramic workshop Viking Ships, (a day of drawing with all types of media) Celtic Labyrinths on Thursday and finishing with Action Art 3 on Thursday.

Vala Club sees the week starting with Knights Templar, Coexistence in The Holy Land taking us back to the early middle ages, a time of great upheaval in the old world. Tuesday we travel with the Vikings to the fatal shore of North America . Wednesday sees the return of Return to The Mountain- the Dwarf trilogy (and the return of Andrew!) as we adventure into the fantasy world of the Dawn Saga. Finally Thursday finishes with the Golden age of Heros and Heroines as we enter The Cave of the Cyclops…

If you want to book in for any of the remaining workshops here they are

The Great Temple of Samye in TibetNumismatics displayed

As always our youngest children, the Sparks have the best of both worlds in sampling both the art adventures of Creative Catalyst and live action storytelling of Vala. While having plenty of time for creative play, dress ups, reading and more. The program is a great way for young children to get ready for school as we help reinforce ideas of group participation, working with a schedule of activities and eating together in a class situation.

Home made pizza of all varieties

Our dedicated caterer Ruth continues to provide delicious and healthy meal choices for morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea. Including fare to help cope with the very hot weather, from watermelon slushies, to fruit juice icy poles and plenty of fresh fruit, veggies and home made dips.

This 2018 Summer we have a massive month of holiday workshops for kids aged 7-16! From both Creative Catalyst and Vala Club you will find a selection of old favorites and new experiences. Don’t forget Sparks (ages 4-7) have their own group and get to play in both programs!

On the lifesblood of fated men
It’s thirst is slaked
The Powers’ homes paint crimson
With the heat and heart of battle
Black become the beams of sun
In the summers that follow

And the weather all now hearts harrow
Do you still seek to know? And What?
Now when the lifesblood flow,
And in chains Loki stirs deep below
These omens Ragnarok begot

From Völuspá, in the Poetic Edda, c.1270 CE.

Ragnarok, the end of Asgard, the fall of the Aesir and the cataclysmic war of the Ice Giants, was prophesied to Odin One-Eye many years ago. Heimdall, the all-seeing, has seen the coming of a change in the nine realms and, in his infinite wisdom, Thor has taken up Mjolnir to face the impending doom.

Thor shall call up a team of warriors from Asgard, the home of the gods, including the Valkyrie, the Einherjar, even some fellow gods to search for a way to avoid the impending apocalypse! Along the way, Thor and his warriors will traverse the nine realms, and face gigantic and monstrous foes in Jotunheim, search for help from the elfin folk of Alfheim, and armament from the dwarfs in Svartalfheim.

Look behind the comics with an adventure of epic proportions, drawn from as many original texts as can be found! Students will learn all about Norse mythology, and Viking ways of life, touchstones for an enormous number of the stories we tell today.

What better way to visit significant times and places in history and culture than as a member of the Time Bandits? This band of multifarious midgets once served the Supreme Being, making all the small things like boulders and shrubs until they angered him by making a particularly smelly bush.

After being harshly scolded they petulantly stole His Map to All-of-Space-and Time and are now travelling through portals therein identified… stealing the greatest treasures ever known at the moments of greatest opportunity! (Just as we have stolen this idea from some of the original Monty Python team, ahem).

Time Bandits – The Mystery of the Fabergé Eggs

Now the Time Bandits are headed off to Imperial Russia, over 100 years ago to see if they can get their greasy hands on some of the most precious treasures known to humanity, the richly decorated and incredible ornamented Fabergé Eggs.

Do you dare to join this eclectic and chaotic band of adventurers? Will your band succeed and achieve impossible wealth and glory…or will it all end up scrambled? Join us for the day and find out the Mystery of the Fabergé Eggs!

Aeoncademy’s Vala program centres around collaborative story telling. We have all sorts of modalities to facilitate telling those stories, which all relate to character play, taking on a character in a place and time different from the participant’s own. This means that in Vala each day we work together to develop a story, a narrative, as a group by piecing together a pastiche of different character experiences.

From our earliest days, Vala’s stories have been developed into written records, with players sending in ‘Character Reports’ to the Vala facilitator to help progress the story, and the way we told stories inspired our current facilitators to where we are today. You can read more about our Vala Facilitators here.

After a fabulously successful First Edition and Second Edition, Aeoncademy is really excited to announce the Third Vala Contributor’s Prize.

The Vala Contributor’s Prize

One free day in the upcoming Aeoncademy Holiday Program – worth $190.00, a Vala Tee Shirt, and publication in Æ°nDawn Magazine.

How To Enter

Create a narrative work in which the key element is writing, this can be a short story, novella, comic book or series of panels, or any other predominantly written work.Theme – My Character’s Story – A story from a character played during the recent-most Holiday Program. This can be what happened during that day’s story, or the backstory behind the character.Submissions — Submit your work as a PDF or Word document electronically to the Aeoncademy email addressEntries open on: April 10th 2017Entries close by: 5.00pm on 30th of April 2017.
Unlimited entries per entrant.Word limit – unlimited!

Conditions of entry

Entries must be your own original work.
Work will not be returned to authors.
Submit your story by the deadline.
The judges’ decision will be final and no correspondence will be entered into.
Winning and selected works may be used by Aeoncademy, whether on the website, or in print, as-submitted or with modification, in any form Aeoncademy deems fit.
Published entries may be subject to editing.
Entry indicates acceptance of these rules.
Winners of the Vala Contributor’s Prize will be announced, and the prizes will be awarded at the Aeoncademy Open Day, following the Live Action Dramatic Adventure Demonstration, on the 27th of May 2017!

Judging

The stories entered in the Vala Contributor’s Prize will be judged by a selection from a panel of judges made up of Vala’s content-developing Facilitators, Mathew Long, Luke Jordan, and Andrew Yallop.

Set sail with great adventurers around the turn of the century as great – and not-so-great – icons go to try and claim new glory. From the southern pole of the world to the bushveldt of South Africa, follow in the footsteps of brilliant scientists, egomaniacal explorers, and shifty soldiers when the Earth is – unexpectedly – invaded.

In the They Came From The Stars set of adventures, Vala Games explores what it was like to be out and about at the end of the 19th century in a story inspired by the thrillers of Verne and Welles, exploring astronomy, chemistry and zoology, alongside courage, the spirit of adventure and tough ethical dilemmas.

Take a job at the royal court of Mary Queen of Scots and experience the flourishing ‘Scottish Renaissance’ of her reign up close and personal. Work hard to meet her expectations, strive to be noticed and become a royal favourite, protect her person and reputation from the manipulation of foreign powers, and become caught up in the great events and vicious politics of Queen Mary’s eventful reign.

In the Court of Mary Queen of Scots set of adventure Vala Games explores the life and times of Mary Queen of Scots, the influences and figures directing events in her court, and the influence and access to the powerful that medieval servants often enjoyed, as well as teaching skills of cooperation, decision-making, and observation.

The Favourites of Queen Mary

Leaping into action as the spring season of royal parties and councils begins, the Court of Mary Queen of Scots find themselves at the heart of the ‘Scottish Renaissance’ as nobles return to Edinburgh and foreign visitors arrive.

Moving through the palace and catching glimpses of deadly politics, foreign espionage, and even open treason against the crown, the members of her Court will find themselves very busy as they compete to become The Favourites of Queen Mary.

The Murder of Lord Darnley

Shock and suspicion rock the Court of Mary Queen of Scots when an explosion one night after midnight proves a clue in the abrupt murder of her husband, Lord Darnley.

Finding themselves at the mercy of the gathering political storm as nobles exploit the situation to their own goals, the members of the Court must be cunning, be trustworthy, and be very careful indeed if they are to avoid misplaced blame and punishment over The Murder of Lord Darnley.

The Rise & Fall of Lord Bothwell

Recently widowed and confounded in her sovereignty by rebellious Lords of all persuasions, it seems that the Queen of Scots needs must settle on a new husband or face a challenge to the throne. Few in her court are prepared however for the events that rapidly unfold as the ambitious and brave Sir James Hepburn literally sweeps the Queen of her feet and sets the Kingdom on a course towards disaster or redemption.

The members of Mary’s Court need to decide one and for all where their loyalties lie during the meteoric rise and fall of James Hepburn, Lord Bothwell.

Coming Soon

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The Aeoncademy Centre

We operate a boutique Outside School-Hours Centre offering After School classes and Holiday Programs based in Yarralumla. We provide the quintessential Aeoncademy ‘Education through Creativity’ experience.